


Let me fix the broken pieces

by MoonwritingFF



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety, Drama & Romance, F/F, Friendship/Love, LGBTQ Female Character, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:34:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 20,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22526368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonwritingFF/pseuds/MoonwritingFF
Summary: Just around the corner of the Cereals shelf she saw Chloe Beale. It didn't take more than a few seconds for Chloe to see Beca as well, and the glass bottle she had in her hand crashed on the floor at her feet. Then she turned around and ran away. Beca couldn't move and thought "That's how her heart must look like. And it's my fault." Bechloe Love. Chaubrey friendship.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	1. Broken

Beca was standing by the Cereals shelf at the supermarket, trying to decide which one to take. There were some brands she'd never heard of before. _Must be some fancy LA thing_. She thought. With a sigh she decided to take the honey cereals, only because the bear on the box was funny. Putting it in the cart she was about to walk on, but instead she froze. _No way._  
Just around the corner of the Cereals shelf she saw a redhead. Not only one redhead but Chloe Beale. It didn't take more than a few seconds for Chloe to see Beca as well, and the glass bottle she had in her hand crashed on the floor at her feet. Then she turned around and ran away.  
Beca couldn't move, she didn't know how long she had been standing there. The only thing she could see was the broken glass combined with terrified blue eyes. The only thing she could think of was: _That's how her heart must look like. And it's my fault._

* * *

_One year ago..._

"Congratulations to the graduated students of Barden University!" Someone exclaimed, earning happy cheers from the slightly drunk audience. It was the graduation party and all the Bellas were there, also Aubrey, who joined them to celebrate their graduation and their World Championship. She was actually looking for Chloe but couldn't find her anywhere.

The redhead wasn't far. She was near the pool looking for Beca with a drink in her hand, but she actually hadn't drunk much. What she had to do was important and she wanted to be sober. Many people stopped her in the way, Chloe was very outgoing and knew a lot of people. But she didn't have time for them. _Finally, there you are!_

"Hey Becs! Can we talk for a sec?" Chloe asked her friend, trying to stay calm. She couldn't believe that her, Chloe Beale, was finally going to confess her feelings to Beca Mitchell, the woman she had been in love with ever since they met. Maybe she had waited too long. Their friendship was just so true and beautiful... Chloe didn't want to ruin it. But this was the right time. The Bellas she considered her family were graduating, every girl was following their own path... it was now or never.

"Sure, Chlo" Beca answered. The redhead only nodded with a tiny smile and guided the brunette by the hand to a better place.

Chloe stopped by a bush. It was a nice place because nobody was close enough to hear their conversation. Nobody sober enough to follow it anyway.

"So what's up?" Beca asked, curious.

"Beca..." Chloe started with a sigh. _It's now or never._ "After we won in Copenhagen an elegant man approached me... his name is Mathew Howards..."

"What!? THE Mathew Howards? Don't tell me he..."

"Yes. He offered me a job in his company. He told me he heard about my teaching plans, and being the co-captain of the Bellas I would be the best woman for the job. I actually think Aubrey had something to do with it, even if she won't tell me..."

"Wow! Chloe that's amazing!" Beca exclaimed, hugging her friend tightly. Chloe enjoyed that moment with her eyes closed before she pulled back and got ready for the hard part.

"The job is in L.A. I'll have to coach the kids for their mini-Broadway program. I didn't say yes though..." She looked at her feet.

"What? Why?"

"I have to give an answer tomorrow. I just..." Chloe fixed her eyes with Beca's "I just want to know first if you will go to L.A. too"

"Well um... actually I won't go yet because right now I have a big opportunity here with this music producer I'm working for... But why?" Beca answered, confused.

"Because maybe if things go like I hope they will, I should stay here with you" Before Beca could say anything she continued "I love you, Beca. I'm in love with you, and gosh I think I've been in love with you ever since your audition!"

Beca froze, her hands sweating, her heart racing, her eyes widening. She only managed to mumble "All this time?"

"Yes, Becs. I've been keeping it to myself because you're with Jesse and well... our friendship is so true and amazing... I didn't want to ruin that." Chloe said, her hand reaching Beca's shoulder in comfort accompanied with a shy smile. _Phew, it's finally done. Now she'll understand and everything will be ok again. In the worst of options, we'll just stay best friends._

Suddenly Beca reacted, shaking off Chloe's hand and looking at her with anger. The redhead's smile faded and her eyes filled with tears, that started falling down her cheeks when Beca spoke.

"Well you just ruined it." The brunette snapped. She was slightly drunk so the words came out after thinking too little. She didn't care, she was angry. "What did you expect now? I mean, you've been laughing behind my back all these years! I thought we were friends, you made me believe that!" Her volume was getting louder.

"We are! We are best friends Beca..." Chloe whispered with a shaky voice.

"We are not, no!" Beca cut her off, an her words were really loud.

Some people turned to look at them, but Chloe didn't see that. She just looked at Beca and opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. The next thing she remembers is running away, as far away from Beca as possible, trying to quiet the echo of the painful words inside her head. _How can I be so stupid! How_ _can I be so stupid!_ She thought, not really watching where she was going. Suddenly she felt arms around her and smelled Aubrey's perfume.

"Chloe! Chloe, what's wrong? Sweetie, look at me, hey!"

When Chloe looked her in the eyes, Aubrey knew. Without thinking twice, she walked Chloe to her car and drove in silence. For half an hour Chloe cried on the couch in Aubrey's apartment, while the blonde stroke her hair softly. Exhausted and broken as she was, the redhead passed out shortly after 2 am. Knowing that she would sleep deeply, Aubrey covered Chloe with a blanket and kissed her forehead. She had somewhere to go.

* * *

Beca walked in her room at 6 am. feeling the worst hangover ever. After what happened with Chloe she furiously grabbed any drink at her reach, until she passed out near the pool, next to Amy and Stacie.

"What the..." She mumbled, seeing her mattress was on the floor, her sheets cut in pieces, and her laptop... Her laptop was on her desk, but it could hardly be called a laptop. It was pieces of a laptop. And on top of it there was a note. She slowly walked towards it and read the quick handwriting:

" _You broke my best friend's heart. How dare you? I hope yours will break too when you realize what you've done. Aubrey."_

* * *

_One year later (Present time)_

Aubrey heard the door slam and running footsteps coming in the apartment.

"Chlo?" She asked from her bedroom, where she was doing some paperwork. "Chloe are you back already? That was fast, are you ok?" She was leaving the room while talking, and stopped for a second to see a new text on her phone:

_**Aubrey it's Beca, I'm in LA. I need to make things right with Chloe, please.** _

"Shit." Aubrey sighed, running to the living room to comfort her best friend.


	2. Cold coffee

Beca was tapping her fingers nervously on the table, her coffee getting cold and her eyes fixed on the door. She had found this cozy place a few days ago, while walking around her new neighborhood. It was a nice place and she used to step in every day to just sit there and think. She would usually become sad and her coffee would be almost untouched. This time wasn't like any other day though, and she was nervous. After checking the time on her phone for the 7th time, Beca let out a sigh full of unspoken words and suddenly jumped when she heard the tinkling sound indicating someone was opening the door. She sat straight and swallowed hard when she saw the blonde walk in the coffee shop and walk towards her once she spotted the brunette.

"Hi um... thank you for coming." Beca said unsure, while Aubrey sat at the table. The blonde only nodded coldly and once she was comfortably holding her hands together facing Beca, she started talking.

"Alright Beca, I only agreed on coming here because I really want to help my best friend. So spill it out, what do you want to do?" Aubrey was serious and her eyes showed mostly anger. Nevertheless Beca could spot some hint of concern there too, so she let out the first question that came to her mind.

"How is she?" Beca asked shyly.

"How... How is she? How is she!? Are you fucking serious!?" Aubrey almost yelled, but then decided to hiss instead. She was in a public place after all. She let out an exasperating groan holding her head for a second while Beca waited holding her breath. Then she continued "You literally broke her heart, Beca. How could you talk to her like that? I honestly thought that you were feeling the same way she was. I mean! Didn't you get all the hints she threw at your face? Didn't you suspect at least that you were really important for her?"

Silence. Beca's eyes were fixed on her coffee now. At least they were having a conversation, something had improved in a year.

"I didn't. I am the dumbest person on Earth." Beca answered in a low voice, without lifting her sight.

"That's an understatement." Aubrey snapped. Beca knew she was right.

"I am not good with feelings, I am weird with that stuff! I thought that was what being best friends was like... I thought she was just being friend Chloe, not in love Chloe..."

"Really? After all the flirting she did on you? Did you know all the lyrics she suggested for the Bellas were dedicated to you? Do you have any idea of how many nights she fell asleep cuddling a pillow and crying? Do you even fucking imagine how it felt like to be IN LOVE with someone who was with someone else? And she was able to keep herself together through all those years, only because she was so happy being your best friend!"

"I know" I know, ok? Don't shout please." Beca's eyes were staring at Aubrey's now, filled with tears. "That night I regretted my words immediately, I wanted to take them back, I wanted to talk to her, but I ran and I saw you driving away... I called her and texted her and she never answered... I went to her room but she wasn't there! So then I just... I went back to the party and drunk myself off."

Beca Mitchell was actually crying, looking at the table while she spoke. Aubrey was surprised, her anger softening a bit. What Beca was saying was true, the blonde herself had gotten calls and texts that night and the following days, but she hadn't answered any but one.

_**Stop, she doesn't want to hear from you. We're leaving to L.A. she got the job and hopefully a new life.** _

After that Beca didn't try reaching the redhead again. She'd had the urge though. Her and Chloe had been attached to the hip for four years, they'd really bonded, and it was unbearable to miss her.

"...then I crashed on my mattress, right there on the floor. My life had been a fucking mess since then... Every day I wonder why I didn't keep trying, texting, calling..." The brunette's words drifted away and became sobs. She was crying her heart out, and it looked like it was the first time since the incident happened.

"Why are you in L.A. anyway?" Aubrey asked, her voice became soft as she tried to change subject slightly, making an effort to keep herself in the annoyed attitude in front of the broken brunette.

"I... I'm starting a new life." Beca answered in between hiccups. "Jesse and I are not together anymore, he... didn't understand and I..." She started crying again, hugging herself. It was a sad picture. Aubrey sighed.

"You know... Chloe... she's not the same anymore." The blonde confessed, leaning closer to Beca, serious and concerned. "Things have changed since you've fucked up, Beca. She couldn't get over you."

"What? But I thought you two..." Beca said, wiping some tears confused.

"Are you crazy? She's my best friend I told you, she's always been and she'll always be."

"Why did you come to L.A. with her then? I thought you had that camp..."

"Yes I still have that 'camp' as you say, Lodge Fallen Leaves. I left someone else in charge because Chloe needs me." Aubrey let out another sigh and pierced her eyes to Beca's concerned. "Chloe has been having some problems... she was quite fine the first week, then she started having these panic attacks... she wouldn't leave the apartment alone."

Beca gasped and took a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide open in shock. Chloe Beale changing that much?

"What like agoraphobia?"

"Something like that." Aubrey replied, tears in her eyes. She was feeling desperate. "I have been trying to help her, she improved a little bit and three days ago she felt brave enough to go to the supermarket alone for the second time... and there you were. Now she's stuck in the apartment again!" She covered her face with her hands, trying to keep the tears inside. The situation overwhelmed her, she wanted her best friend to be happy and healthy, to be herself. She didn't know what to do.

"As much as I would like to slap you right now hobbit, I think you are the only one who can help Chloe get back. You owe it to her anyway. And to me, I hurt my wrist breaking down your laptop." A tiny smirk started forming on Beca's face, but it faded quickly when she saw Aubrey's cold expression. _At least she used my nickname again, you don't kill someone with a nickname, right?_ She thought.

"And well..." Aubrey sighed. "I honestly don't understand why, but I'm pretty sure she still loves you. So you have one chance! Only one, you hear me!?"

Her emphasis slamming her palm on the table made Beca nod obediently.


	3. Where is Chloe Beale

Chloe Beale was writing on her diary like every evening. She liked evenings, everything got quiet and comfy in the evenings. Her red locks were tied up in a ponytail and she was wearing her favorite pjs (light blue with little pink flowers all over the pants and the buttoned-up shirt) of course she was also wearing her purple hairy slippers. She loved her slippers. Sitting cross-legged on the chair, she was leaning over her desk, illuminated by a modest little lamp.

"...an eternal flame..." she muttered the song in her head while making a pause in the writing. A sad smile decorated her face, remembering. It was sad, yes... but it was helping her heal. She started writing everything about her life at Barden when she wouldn't leave the apartment, some months ago. Everything seemed nice in L.A... The new job was amazing, she was welcomed with open arms, the kids were sweet and talented, her best friend was staying with her until she could settle down... but all that only lasted one week. After that she couldn't deny it any longer and reality hit her like an iceberg hit the Titanic. And just like the Titanic she felt a crack and started sinking slowly, feeling lost as her lungs were unable to breath. It was actually a horrible feeling and it happened in the street, while she was walking to work. Aubrey picked up the phone right away and rescued the crying Chloe from the entrance of some building where she was sitting. She rescued her again. The redhead felt so lucky to have a friend like Aubrey, she really was her strength, the rock to hold on to in tough times... and that's why the blonde never left.

They gave Chloe a different job since then, instead of teaching the kids she was in charge of choosing and editing the songs, then sending them to the assistants... it was a temporary solution for her problem and she wasn't sure of how much patience they would have for her, but still it was a good solution and she was thankful. That way she could still work and keep her mind busy, in the safety of her apartment. It was hard to go out and meet people. Chloe didn't feel good around people anymore, she changed so much and Aubrey was really concerned about her best friend, who had always been outgoing and friendly. So the blonde had the idea of reminding Chloe about her true self, the cheerful redhead she had met at Barden University, the crazy dreamy Bella. She was so glad it really seemed to be working for Chloe, and slow changes could be seen. First her friend started to sing again, she would smile more, and slowly walk outside. Usually Aubrey had to walk with her everywhere, but lately she would make it to the supermarket (two blocks away) on her own. That was until 4 days ago, when Beca Mitchell was there. The country must have thousands of supermarkets and she had to be there at the exact moment Chloe was... Since then Chloe didn't go back to the beginning, but she did take some steps back in her recovery.

The therapy she was using was also getting harder, because she got to writing the part of Barden when Beca comes in... With a sigh she decided to stop for the day, left her pen carefully next to the diary and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Hey, Bree. You didn't tell me you got home." Chloe said when she saw her friend leaning against the counter.

"Oh hi, Chlo. I thought you were sleeping." Aubrey replied, drinking a sip of white wine.

"I was writing... Aubrey is that wine? Are you nervous?"

"Yeah, had a long day. How's it going with the writing?"

"It goes slower than before... you know." Chloe paused, looking at her feet. "Hey but where have you been all day?"

"Just working Chloe." Aubrey lied. "What's with the interrogatory?" She smiled at her friend to release some tension and Chloe poked her shoulder. "Chlo, this was in the mailbox" Aubrey lied again, handing an envelope to the ginger, who left her empty glass on the counter and reached out.

"Is it for me?" She asked, and froze for an instant when she read _**From Beca to Chloe**_ written on the envelope. She immediately looked into Aubrey's eyes, confused and expecting to find anger, or surprise, or advice, or anything...

"Relax, breathe deeply sweetie. It is your choice to make. You decide if and when you want to read it. No pressure, no judgment. Just take your time." Aubrey said while hugging Chloe reassuringly. The redhead nodded on her shoulder.

* * *

_3 hours ago..._

"Do you want to kill her? You cannot come to our apartment all of a sudden! It's the only place where she feels safe!"

"But what can I do then?"

"You have to approach her slowly, she has to let you in... what about a letter?"

"Aubrey, my writing skills are lame..."

"So? You have to make an effort, Beca. You really want her back or not?"

"Yes!"

"Ok then, write a letter. But just don't overwhelm her, you know? Write something nice and short, as a first step."

"Fine I will do that."

"Hello, what are you waiting for?" Aubrey said after a short silence.

"What, now?" Beca asked.

"Duh, you wanna wait another year?" The blonde snapped. She knew it was rude. She loved it.

Beca stood up and asked the waiter for a pen and some paper. Aubrey sighed and decided to sacrifice one of the envelopes she had in her bag, for a good cause like this one.

It took a long time for Beca to start writing. Feelings had always been a hard topic for her, and it was harder with Aubrey watching, so she asked the blonde to leave her alone for a while. Aubrey rolled her eyes and walked to the toilet, deciding to spend that time fixing her makeup. When she came back feeling bored after 10 minutes, Aubrey saw Beca was already writing, tears falling down her cheeks. She stopped walking and chose to sit at the bar and chat with the waiter there, leaving Beca some extra space.

10 more minutes passed and the brunette wiped away the last tears folding the paper and putting it inside the envelope. Aubrey saw this and sat with Beca again.

"Is it done?" The blonde asked while Beca wrote 'From Beca to Chloe' on the envelope and then handed it over.

"Won't you read it?" She asked, noticing that Aubrey was putting the envelope carefully inside her bag at once.

"Of course not, this is between you and Chloe." The blonde answered, making Beca smile shyly. She was actually smiling, she felt hope for the first time in a year.

"Ok hobbit, don't get your hopes up yet. My friend can be a hell of a bitch when she is hurt and angry. This thing is gonna be slow... and let's hope it works." Aubrey allowed herself a tiny smile too, almost imperceptible, but Beca saw it. Her eyes got teary again as the blonde walked away.

* * *

_Present time..._

Aubrey pulled back from the hug to smile at her best friend again. She really was exhausted, it had been a long day and she had certainly had overload of Beca's annoying voice. She sighed and asked if the ginger was ok. Chloe nodded.

"I'm fine Bree, it's only a paper. You can go rest, I'll get going in a bit and yes, I'll let you know if I need you." The redhead said before the blonde could speak. "Seriously Bree, you're the best friend anybody could wish for, but you need your rest cause you're getting wrinkly." She added with a little smile so her friend wouldn't worry too much.

Aubrey played the game, returning the smile and nodding. "Good night" she whispered, walking to her room. She hid in the shades of the hallway though, watching as her best friend stood still, reading the envelope again before tossing it in the trash.

* * *

Beca was already in bed, unable to find a comfortable position. She sat up at once when she heard the beep from her phone announcing a new text. It was from Aubrey, she read it anxiously.

_**Told you, letter 1 is in the trash. Good luck.** _

With a sigh she got up and walked to her desk. On her way back from the coffee shop she had bought everything necessary to write more letters for Chloe and the things were on her desk, ready to use. Letter number two was on the making.


	4. I saw the sign

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song used in this chapter is called "The Reason" by Hoobastank

_And there is letter number 6... she's kept it for a couple of days now... No, Chloe! Damn. In the trash again._ Aubrey sighed, walking in the kitchen.

"Another letter?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Yes. It's been a week and she keeps sending me letters." Chloe replied, annoyed. But there was something else...

"You've kept that one for a couple of days..."

"You noticed?" Chloe adopted the same attitude a little girl shows when she has been caught drawing on the walls.

Aubrey smirked. There she was, her old best friend. She walked towards the counter, next to Chloe, and started getting things ready to cook dinner.

"So... it is like a mystery." She said innocently.

"What is?" Said Chloe, crossing her arms and looking at Aubrey.

"This whole thing with the letters..." Aubrey pretended to be concentrated on the vegetables. "I don't know, I wonder what she wrote... don't you?" A short glance to her best friend told her she nailed it. Chloe was biting her lip absently. Of course she wondered what the letters said. That ginger was curious by nature.

"So you want lettuce and tomato in the salad only?" Aubrey decided to change subject and let it sink in.

* * *

Beca was driving back to her apartment, tired after a long day of work. She loved her job in LA, it was everything she had ever dreamed of. She was just... feeling lonely. The lyrics on the radio caught her attention.

' _I'm not a perfect person, there's many things I wish I didn't do, but I continue learning. I never meant to do those things to you...'_

Beca sighed. She was thinking again about Chloe. Beca had been trying to reach her with a letter for two weeks now, without success. Well she only sent letters the first week, 6 letters so far. Aubrey said she saw a sign in Chloe so Beca should delay letter number 7 one more week.

' _I'm sorry that I hurt you, it's something I must live with everyday...'_

Beca sang the lyrics softly as she parked the car, then kept humming the song as she walked in and dropped the keys on the table. She checked the time, it was 7pm, and decided to take a shower. A long, warm, slow shower. In fact, Beca didn't care if she stayed in the shower forever. At least nobody would bother her in there... _dammit._ Again Chloe in her head.

The doorbell buzzed an hour later and Beca left her laptop on the table to open the door. It wasn't a surprise to find Aubrey standing there.

"Hey Aubrey." Beca said, stepping to the side so the blonde could come in.

"Hey Beca." Aubrey replied as she walked in. "Do you have the letter?"

"Yeah it's right here." Beca grabbed an envelope from the table and handed it to Aubrey.

"Good. I think this is the one, Beca. You just wait now." Aubrey walked outside again and showed a reassuring smile before walking away.

Beca nodded and closed the door. She wasn't so certain about that.

* * *

Chloe opened her eyes next morning and yawned. There was nothing more boring than a Thursday morning. She rubbed her eyes and sat up on the bed letting out a sigh. In fact Chloe felt frustrated. She had been waiting for another letter, yes actually WAITING for it. But just when she starts feeling curious about what the letters say, they stop coming. She pushed the covers with a groan and let her feet find the slippers.

"Ouch!" She hissed, rubbing her right foot. There was something pointy inside the hairy slippers. It was an envelope.

Chloe's face lit up, against her will. A relieved happy smile formed on her lips when she read the familiar _**From Beca to Chloe**_ on it.

"Bree! Did you put this inside my monstrippers?" The redhead asked, walking in the kitchen.

"If you mean your favorite slippers that look like ugly purple monsters... yes." Aubrey answered with a smile, handing Chloe her mug with coffee. Seeing her friend's inquisitive eyes, she added "I found it in the mailbox after my early running routine. Will you open this one?"

Chloe didn't answer. Her eyes went back to the letter in her hand. Her thumb caressed the names on it and then she closed her eyes and opened the envelope.

"Please stay, Bree." She said when Aubrey had started to walk out of the kitchen. The blonde nodded with a smile and stood by the counter.

Chloe turned her attention to the letter and read in silence.

_**Dear Chloe,** _

_**This is one more letter for you. I wrote the same in all of them hoping that someday you want to hear from me again.** _

_**I'm sorry. I know it's not enough, I know I screwed up big time. I wish that I could take away all the pain I put you through. I wish that I could hug you again. When you hugged me Chloe, I felt at home. No one could understand me better than you did. You were the best friend I've ever had. You were always there for me but when you needed me I wasn't there for you. I want to fix that, I want to change things and bring you back again. Maybe if you read this letter I still have a chance. I miss you so very much.** _

_**Sincerely, Beca.** _

Chloe brought her hand to her mouth and concentrated. Three counts in, hold. Let it go.  
Her eyes filled with tears and she left the letter on the table as her arms opened to receive Aubrey. Her best friend hugged her tightly and comfortingly until her sobs drifted away. The blonde pulled back then, scanning Chloe's face concerned.

"I'm ok Bree." Chloe whispered with a smile. A lonely tear was still falling down her cheek. "She wrote this letter and... she is such a dork with feelings, I bet she spent a week writing it." Both friends giggled.

"So what will you do now?" Aubrey asked, sitting next to the redhead.

Chloe didn't answer right away. She took the time to read the letter again before she spoke.

"I don't know... I'll think about it."

"Good. Now drink up your coffee! It's cleaning day today." Aubrey said with a wink, making Chloe groan.

* * *

"It's 3am. on a Thursday night, who the hell is texting?" Beca mumbled to herself rolling on the bed to grab her phone from the night table. She opened the new text message and sat up suddenly on the bed, eyes wide open.

_**Turns out I never deleted your number. I miss you so very much too. Chloe.** _


	5. Stepping closer

_**I can't wait to see you again**_ :)

Beca sent the message with a smile. Chloe and her had been texting each other for a week now. First it was random texting every now and then, and as the days passed it had become an everyday rule to text every couple hours. They would just comment silly things about the weather, work, LA stuff, even about Aubrey. It was slow but it felt right, and with every buzz of their phones both girls lit up.

In the previous message Chloe had finally asked Beca to visit her in the apartment later that day, which according to Aubrey was a huge step. Beca could hear the blonde's voice in her head saying something like "You're walking on eggshells, hobbit. Be careful."

Beca was wide aware of that anyway, because she noticed how Chloe avoided talking about them and their past. She avoided talking about anything but silly things, actually. And Beca had also noticed the lack of smileys in Chloe's texts. The redhead had always been known for the overuse of emoticons in her messages, that was Chloe's way to let people know what her actual expression really was. Lately though, she wasn't using any smiley at all, and that kept Beca worried.

With a sigh, the brunette stood in front of the mirror. Her expression was serious. Of course she was happy that things seemed to be working, that Chloe was letting her in slowly... but she was also scared. The last time they saw each other Chloe's eyes were terrified and she ran away. The last time they saw each other before that Chloe's eyes were deeply sad and she ran away. How could Beca know this time it would be different? She didn't want to hurt her best friend anymore. What happened that night at the party had been a big damn mistake caused by alcohol mixed with walls against feelings. Beca wouldn't forgive herself if she ever hurt Chloe like that again.

With another sigh she started getting ready for work. It was going to be a long day until she could finally visit the redhead.

* * *

6 hours later Beca was standing in front of Chloe's door, feeling nervous. Shaking her head she knocked and seconds later Aubrey opened.

"Hi Beca." She said smiling and gesturing to make the brunette come in. She looked excited.

"Hi Aubrey" Beca replied, walking inside.

It was a beautiful apartment, middle size. There was a blue couch placed in front of the tv and in between them there was a wooden coffee table. There was a bookshelf full of books of all kinds and many decorations on the walls. Beca's eyes stopped at a big picture of Aubrey and Chloe smiling brightly. It made Beca smile too. Then she saw the kitchen with the dinner table and the short hallway that Beca thought must lead to the bedrooms and bathroom.

"Sit down, Chloe will be here in a bit, when she feels ready. She asked me to stay, I hope you don't mind." Aubrey said, sitting on the couch next to Beca.

"No, it's fine." Beca said.

The tv was on, luckily. So the tense silence was filled with the funny voices of the presenters in the quizz show. Aubrey and Beca didn't want to talk, they were both nervous and expecting. Minutes felt like hours until they finally heard shy footsteps walking in the living room and a nervous little cough. Beca immediately stood up to see Chloe standing a few steps away.

"Hi Beca." She said softly, her hands tangled, her face showing a smile.

"Hi Chloe." Beca said, her eyes filling with happy tears. She was feeling so happy... she wanted to step forward and hug the redhead... but something told her that she shouldn't. Not yet.

Chloe walked towards the couch and sat in the place occupied by Aubrey before. She was in between the brunette and the blonde now.

"So um... do you like the apartment?" Chloe asked. Beca could notice she was trying to avoind looking in her eyes. She looked happy though.

"Oh yeah I love it, you can totally guess Aubrey lives here. Everything is so neat!"

Chloe laughed. Oh my God Chloe laughed. Aubrey couldn't believe it. That brunette could make her best friend feel the worst and the best. She was right, Beca was the only one who could bring the real Chloe back.

"How are you, Chlo?" Beca asked, her expression getting more serious, but always showing a little smile. The redhead looked at her feet in silence for a few seconds, like trying to find the words.

"I thought you would never come back" She whispered finally, this time fixing her eyes in Beca's eyes.

Beca lost the ability to breathe, her heart racing. For the first time in a year, Chloe's eyes were smiling right at hers. Oh how much she had missed those blue eyes. As numb as her mind felt, she reached forward and wrapped her arms around the redhead, holding her tightly. Both girls closed their eyes, feeling each other. Beca could also feel a few tears from Chloe on her shoulder.

"Come on Chlo, don't cry anymore?" She whispered, but the redhead only hugged her a bit tighter, still emotional.

A minute later they pulled away from the hug, smiling brightly and none of them noticed Aubrey had left as they kept talking. They talked over an hour nonstop. Mostly Beca did, updating Chloe on how the last year of her life has been.

"...Yeah and then I got this amazing job offer in LA but Jesse didn't want me to come."

Chloe coughed at the mention of Jesse and Beca noticed the redhead was uncomfortable so she shut up.

"But wait... you told me you got this awesome job here..." Curious Chloe couldn't stop herself. Beca smiled slightly.

"Yep. I got the job and broke up with Jesse... Couples are supposed to support each other's dreams, right?"

Chloe nodded, breaking eye contact. She was looking around for Aubrey. Beca thought maybe she had talked too much, maybe it wasn't the moment to mention Jesse or relationships and couples. She cleared her throat.

"So yeah, it was really nice to see you, Chlo. I'll get going and let you rest now, it's pretty late." And Beca stood up, not sure what to do.

Chloe stood up too, and started walking to the door, Beca following. The brunette was starting to feel guilty and slightly sad.

"Goodnight, Chlo. See you another time I hope?" She tried, with a sad smile. Chloe was looking at her feet. Beca sighed and turned to walk away.

"Wait" Chloe finally spoke up, finding Beca's blue eyes before continuing, "What about tomorrow? We can make cookies..." She showed a little smile, that grew bigger when Beca smiled back.

"Sure! Same time? I'll be here." And they waved goodbye.

As if the day couldn't get any better, a few hours later Beca finished some work at home and got a text message. It was Chloe. She really loved Chloe's texts.

_**I had a really good time today, thank you.** _

Beca quickly replied she felt the same way. Her cheeks were legit hurting because of her big smile. Finally things were going in the right direction. Beca Mitchell was happy. Officially happy. And she found that she hadn't felt truly happy in a long time. So, what could be better than celebrating the day like she hadn't done in a long time? She turned on the music player, louder than usual, and danced on the couch.


	6. Flowers or chocolates?

Aubrey silently moved her lips forming the words "I'm out" While pointing to the door. Beca nodded and watched the blonde go. She felt a bit bad because Aubrey was always the one leaving her own apartment to let Chloe see she could be alone with Beca. The redhead was feeling more and more comfortable around the brunette, but she would still be scared of leaving the apartment. Beca sighed thinking about this and blaming herself one more time. In that moment Chloe was snoozing, cuddled on Beca's side on the couch. They had been watching a movie. It was so weird that Chloe would fall asleep with a movie, so Beca suspected the ginger didn't sleep well last night.

After a few more minutes, Chloe started waking up with a yawn, and sleepily rested her head on Beca's lap. This made the brunette shiver because in the last few days Chloe carefully avoided long lasting contact.

"Hey, goodnight weirdo" Beca joked with a smile, not sure what to do with her hands. She decided to scratch the back of her neck.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep" The redhead sad. When her blue eyes met Beca's, she immediately noticed Chloe's sadness.

"What's up, Chlo?" she carefully placed her hand on Chloe's bare shoulder. Her skin was warm and soft.

With a sigh, Chloe concentrated on her nails while talking. "My boss called yesterday. I have to go back soon or they will offer the job to someone else."

Beca didn't know what to say. Instead she finally found a place for her other hand and started stroking Chloe's hair softly. To her surprise she felt the ginger relax with the touch, closing her eyes. Beca took a few minutes to look at Chloe. Her gaze travelled from her feet, with those ugly but cute slippers, to her bent legs, then to her stomach, where Chloe's hands were placed. Beca bit her lip while watching the redhead's chest slowly moving up and down with relaxed breaths. And then her eyes found Chloe's face. She was so beautiful. Beca's heart was racing and she smiled to herself. She knew exactly what it meant and she mentally slapped herself because she didn't realize before. _Always too slow, Mitchell._

Chloe's eyes snapped open and Beca was startled. Without realizing, the hand that was first on Chloe's shoulder had been drawing feather patterns on the ginger's face. Chloe blushed and avoided eye contact, but she didn't move. That was a good sign for Beca, but her hand went back to scratching her neck just in case.

"Enough sleeping for the day, don't you think?" She joked and Chloe smiled. "I'll help you with this, ok? You and me together." Beca's hand found Chloe's reassuringly.

* * *

 _Let's do this._ Beca thought while walking on the street looking around. She was sure the flowers shop was around there... or was it the next street?

She tried to keep the smile on her face. Optimistic Beca was her new moto, she needed to help Chloe out of the shades and kick those shades in the ass a couple times so they would never ever come back again. Chloe was sunshine. Nothing and no one should dare to put a shade on her. Never.

Her head kept bringing Beca the images and the thoughts from the graduation party. She remembered how earlier that day Jesse wanted to have a deep conversation with her. He wanted to talk about their future of course. Where they would live, if they were going to move in together... all that crap that comes to a normal mind at an occasion like this. Beca didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to talk about it. Beca just wanted to party and enjoy her friends' company one last time at Barden. She wanted to enjoy happiness right there, have a few hours for herself. So she started thinking about the Bellas, one by one. They were her family, their bond was forever. Then she thought about Chloe. That girl was so special, Beca honestly didn't know how she could live without that flashlight all her life before Barden. She was so very thankful for having Chloe in her life. After that she thought about how Chloe always cared for her because of who she is. Chloe didn't make her watch movies, or interrupted during her mixing. Whenever Chloe noticed Beca was in a bad mood or didn't want to talk about something, she didn't push the brunette. Chloe never asked Beca to give more from herself. The ginger was so happy to have Beca just the way she was, and that was the reason why their bond was so strong. Chloe found the way to bring Beca's walls down, and the most amazing thing was she was just being herself too. Why couldn't Jesse be like that?

All this was in Beca's head during the graduation day, and mixed with alcohol and Chloe's confession... it just blew her mind. Suddenly Chloe was leaving. Suddenly Chloe was asking more from her. Suddenly she saw the possibility of Chloe being more than her best friend. Suddenly Beca felt things. And Beca didn't know how to deal with everything together. Her first reaction was her life-long first reaction: Pushing people away.

Beca shook her head, and a few steps ahead she finally found the flowers shop. She went inside and an old man asked how he could help.

"I would like a bouquet of white lilies, please." She said.

"Oh well young lady, that's a smart choice!" The old man said, already walking towards the flowers to select a few. "Did you know white lilies mean a promise?" He added, smiling kindly.

Beca didn't know that, but it made her smile, her eyes glowing. With her eyes fixed in the flowers she thought about Chloe again. She thought about how different things were now. Now Beca realized she is in love with Chloe, and she will make sure the redhead is happy for the rest of her life.

"Miss? The bouquet is ready, you can pay over there" The man chuckled lightly watching the brunette lost in her thoughts. "And good luck!" He added while Beca walked away.

40 minutes later, Chloe opened the door and saw Beca standing there, holding something behind her back. Their hearts melted while seeing the other girl show a beautiful smile for each other. The brunette stepped inside and as Chloe shut the door she showed her hands. One of them was holding a red box and the other was holding a bouquet of lilies.

"Flowers or chocolates?" Beca asked. Her smile grew even wider when she saw Chloe cover her mouth with the hand in surprise.

"Oh my god!" The redhead said, and then she reached out for the flowers. "White lilies! You remember they are my favourite!" She smelled the flowers. Beca saw the beautiful blue eyes fill with happy tears. Chloe took a moment, Beca waited.

"Did you know they mean a promise?" Beca asked after a while. She tilted her head so her eyes could meet Chloe's.

"Really? And what do you promise?"

There she was. The old Chloe Beale. Beca's heart was full of joy, her head screamed _YES!_ Over and over again.

"I promise..." Beca started, but paused to hold Chloe's hand and squeeze it gently. A little tear was sliding down the ginger's cheek so Beca reached out to caress it away. "I promise that I will take you out of this apartment today and bring you back safe later"

Chloe had relaxed to Beca's touch, but she tensed hearing the words. Her eyes widened for a moment. She felt scared and her chest gave her a bit of trouble breathing. But Beca kept their eyes pierced, one hand on her cheek and the other hand holding hers. This gave Chloe the strength she needed.

"Awesome, Chlo" Beca whispered happily into Chloe's ear when she was embraced tightly.

Chloe pulled out of the hug and they looked at each other smiling brightly.

"Oh but let's take the chocolates with us, I bet you want to share them with me" Beca said jokingly and making the redhead laugh shaking her head.

Actually she said so because she needed to break the eye contact or she would kiss Chloe right there.


	7. The sunlight on her hair

Beca couldn't feel her hand anymore and they had only walked one block. She didn't care about it though, her mind was full concentration in Chloe's wellbeing. When they were waiting for the traffic lights permission to cross the street, she turned to the side to check on the redhead. Chloe's face was pale and she was looking around the crowded streets with wide eyes.

"Hey, are you feeling alright? Do you want us to keep going?" Beca asked with a reassuring smirk. Chloe nodded trying to smile and Beca decided to break the tension. "Ok we'll keep walking then, but you might consider leaving my hand some space for blood to do its job?" She pointed at her squeezed hand with the free one, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Oh, sorry" Chloe said, immediately loosening the pressure. Both friends chuckled and just then the traffic lights turned green so they could cross.

Luckily the park where Beca wanted to take Chloe wasn't too far from the apartment and they managed to get there with no further complications than a numb hand. The brunette checked on Chloe again and saw she was still looking around but smiling this time. A few steps more and they had reached the perfect spot. In fact Beca usually walked through that park every day, she really liked the fresh air and it wasn't too crowded at that time of day, and she imagined having a picnic there with the redhead too many times. Smiling brightly, she sat down on the grass leaning against a big tree. Chloe finally let go of her hand and sat down across of her. They both laughed and Chloe mumbled "I'm sorry" again when Beca massaged her hand dramatically.

"So you like this place?" Beca asked while opening her bag and taking out a cloth and some wrapped food. "I brought sandwiches. I love sandwiches. And also juice boxes and fruit, because I think you like fruit, right? Also the chocolate, of course" She realized she was talking too fast and her friend hadn't answered the first and most important question yet. She paused all her actions to look at her. Chloe was looking straight in her eyes with a lovely smile. The sun on her hair made her look brighter and more beautiful than usual even. Beca was in awe.

"Yes I really like this place, you found a beautiful spot." Chloe said in a low calm voice.

"You are beautiful" Beca blurted out, and stared like a dork until she realized there was a weird silence upon them. She cleared her throat and Chloe snapped back to reality too, breaking eye contact and mumbling a shy "Thank you"

Beca mentally slapped herself, she had to be really cautious. What would she do if Chloe had another panic attack right there? Aubrey gave her some instructions but Beca wasn't good with instructions at all. She was sure that if anything like that would happen, she wouldn't even manage to dial Aubrey's number on the phone correctly. So better was not risking anything. She put on the sweetest smile she could get, and offered a sandwich to Chloe, who grabbed it and brought it to her mouth in one move.

"Hungry?" Beca asked with a wink, and Chloe nodded with her mouth full. "I made them with my own hands!" Beca added, as if it was something that would happen only once in a year. Chloe looked impressed and once she swallowed she said it was a really good sandwich, which caused Beca's ego to increase.

"I really like this cloth with all the musical symbols... how are your mixes going, by the way?" Chloe asked, visibly trying to concentrate on Beca and stop looking around all the time.

"Hmm I kind of stopped mixing for a while... for fun I mean, I have to keep doing for work but..."

"Really? No way, you're too good! Why did you stop?" Chloe was so surprised that she almost spitted out the apple juice she was drinking.

"Yeah well..." Beca got nervous and looked down cutting grass with her hand. "Since I broke up with Jesse." She looked up searching for Chloe's eyes, and found them a bit sad. "Mixing music is my way to express my feelings, you know that. And I haven't had time since then to just sit down and express my feelings... except to write a few letters" Beca winked.

Chloe chuckled with that and took another sip of her juice.

"Yes the letter... or letters... they were beautiful, Beca. Thank you for that." The redhead said.

"Anything to bring the old Chloe back" Beca said. And she truly meant it.

The ginger got visibly nervous and started to look around again. Beca saw the beautiful blue eyes moving from one person to the other. People were running, laughing, playing... The park was getting crowded. She didn't know what to do, Chloe was starting to breathe heavily and left her juice box on the grass. One of her hands was running through her hair while the other was placed on her chest, worried.

A second later the redhead felt Beca's hand on her cheek, pushing her softly to make eye contact with her. Beca's other hand was placed on Chloe's knee, squeezing gently. The brunette was kneeling in front or her, really close.

"Shh Chlo, it's ok. Look at me." Beca whispered, trying to stay calm so Chloe could calm down too. Her friend's eyes showed she was scared. "Don't be scared, ok? I am here with you. These people are not going to hurt you. I am not going to hurt you. Hey, look at me." She lifted Chloe's chin when the redhead broke eye contact. When her eyes met her again they were not scared anymore, but upset and guilty. Beca opened her mouth but nothing came out.

"Hey girl, can you give me my ball?" Someone shouted, and Beca looked in that direction confused. A little girl was standing a few steps away from them pointing at a ball that was on their cloth. Beca moved reluctantly and threw the ball to the girl, not even bothering to fake a smile. Realization hit her while kneeling in front of Chloe again.

"Listen Chloe" She started, placing both hands on Chloe's knees because the redhead was already keeping the eye contact. "I understand you are afraid of going back to your old self again" Beca paused looking for the right words and Chloe took a deep breath. "I know you want to protect your heart behind a wall so it can't be hurt anymore. I understand that because I do that too. But you know? Even if you try your hardest, the feelings can climb the wall and jump to the other side... and I don't know if what I am saying makes any sense, but I am here now, and I will be here always to catch the feelings that jump away and give them back to you" Beca's furrowed eyebrows together with her uncommon speech made Chloe giggle in amusement. Beca let out a nervous little laugh and ran a hand through her hair. At least her friend was calming down.

"What I am trying to say is that you can let yourself be the old Chloe again without fear because this time I am staying right here. I'm not going anywhere Chlo"

Beca couldn't help it, while she spoke her face was getting closer to Chloe's and by the time she finished their foreheads almost touched. The brunette realized just in time and tilted her head to the side and then she placed a lingering kiss on Chloe's cheek. Time seemed to have stopped for god knows how long and after that their eyes met again, this time keeping the distance and smiling. Beca felt so proud of herself for knowing how to calm Chloe down, for being brave enough to speak about feeling with a weird but effective speech, and mostly she felt proud because she could control her urge to kiss Chloe on the lips. It wasn't the moment yet, she didn't even know if Chloe would ever want her back romantically, but she was going to keep hope up.

And thinking of keeping hope up, she stood up and helped Chloe stand up too. She handed the redhead the box of chocolates so she could take one, but Chloe grabbed the whole box instead and stepped back with a smirk.

"Come on Mitchell they are MY chocolates! If you want some, come and get them" and she winked before running away. Beca just stood there at first, eyes and mouth open in surprise and feign offense. She glanced at her bag and rest of things hesitantly, and then back at Chloe, who was hiding behind a tree and showing her tongue shaking her head funnily.

"Dammit" Beca muttered smiling, and she ran towards the redhead.


	8. Burn out the question

"You are WHAT?"

"In love"

"Beca. You are WHAT?"

"In love, Aubrey. Dammit I am IN LOVE!"

Beca slammed her palm on the table with her last words and all the clients at the coffee shop turned around to look at her. She blushed but tried ignoring them running her hand through her hair. Her eyes met Aubrey's waiting for the blonde to say something.

"Don't you dare asking me that again" Beca warned when Aubrey opened her mouth.

"I won't" Aubrey said shaking her head. "You... you seem quite sure about it" She stated clearing her throat somewhere in the sentence.

"Thank you" Beca said, leaning her back on the chair again and rolling her eyes.

"But why, Beca? I mean how? I mean... You broke her heart when she confessed her feelings for you" It was kind of funny to see Aubrey struggle with words. Beca sighed.

"It's not easy for me to be telling you this. I would tell anyone else but you, honestly" Beca said. Aubrey crossed her arms offended as Beca continued "But you're the only one who can take it as serious as it is. And you're also Chloe's best friend, I wanna make sure you're ok with it, you know?"

Aubrey burst out in laughter and made Beca laugh too. Again the other people were looking at them awkwardly. Suddenly Aubrey's phone buzzed with a new message and she picked it up, still laughing.

"It's Chloe" She said. "She wants to know where I am cause she needs me" The blonde looked at Beca with worried eyes. Beca checked her own phone but she didn't find any message and that made her feel upset. "Mitchell this is no time to be jealous" Aubrey joked, causing Beca to scrunch her face in an unfriendly way. The blonde typed a quick reply to Chloe.

"Did you tell her we're together? If you do she will start aski-"

"Relax Hobbit! God that toner's got you freaking out. I'll keep the secret" Aubrey smiled honestly. "I'll keep the secret because Chloe is my best friend and you can make her happy, Hobbit"

"You really enjoy calling me that, don't you?" Serious Beca asked. Exaggerating the seriousness.

"Yes I do" Aubrey answered getting up and grabbing her bag. "And I am leaving now to check on your sweetheart. If you need advice on love matters you should ask someone else. Bye!" She walked away after receiving a punch in her arm from Beca at the word _Sweetheart_.

* * *

Aubrey opened the door to her apartment and immediately started coughing because of the smoke that was coming from the kitchen. She thought the place was on fire and hurried inside calling for Chloe. She found the redhead coughing too, in front of the open oven taking out some burnt things on a tray from it.

"Chloe what's going on? Are you ok?" Aubrey asked opening the window to let the smoke get out of the room faster. Chloe nodded and coughed for a while longer, sadly staring at her failed cookies.

"I'm sorry Bree, but you were taking too long and I wanted to try... Where have you been anyway?" Chloe said and asked curious.

"Are you serious? You almost freaking burnt the place and you ask where I have been?" Aubrey crossed her arms annoyed. "I came as fast as I could because you needed me, according to that text you sent. Don't tell me you needed me to make cookies..."

Chloe looked down feeling ashamed and without words Aubrey understood.

"Chloe! I thought you had a panic attack or something, dammit! Nest time please add information to the message, will you? Now help me clean this, come on"

Both friends started cleaning the mess and throwing away the black things that were destined to be called cookies in some other life. After a few minutes the silence was broken by Aubrey's laugh. It started low and paused but it got louder and funnier so Chloe went from surprised to amused and started chuckling too.

"What?" The redhead asked.

"You're always the same dork" Aubrey said, earning a playful slap from her friend. "Remember the sleepover at your grandma's? You woke me up in the middle of the night to make surprise drawings as a birthday present for her..." She started laughing again so Chloe continued.

"Oh yeah! And we found those papers but couldn't find pencils on anything, so we-"

"So we used her lipsticks! All of them!" Aubrey interrupted, and both best friends were almost crying from laughter at the memory.

"Shit she wanted to kill us the next day! She found us sleeping on the couch surrounded by the drawings. But she loved them so we survived" More laughter.

When they were finally able to catch their breath, Chloe let out a big sigh and recovered the serious expression.

"I'm sorry Bree, I really wanted to learn how to make cookies... I want to make them with Beca" The redhead said shyly. Aubrey hugged her tightly.

"It's ok, Chlo. But next time just wait for me. Let's start over? I'll teach you, it's pretty easy" Aubrey said reassuringly.

A minute later they were ready to start with the explanation and Aubrey broke the comfortable silence.

"So Beca, huh? You two get along pretty well again now. The other day in the park you had so much fun" She was smiling kindly at Chloe, who smiled back.

"Yeah... we're friends again now and tonight we'll go out again"

"That's awesome, Chlo. Do you... like her? Aubrey asked carefully. Chloe immediately shook her head but didn't say anything. Aubrey squeezed her arms comfortingly.

"No I... we're just friends. I won't make the same mistake again" Chloe said finally with a sad smile. Then she started grabbing ingredients meaning the conversation was over. Aubrey looked at her friend with sad eyes and sighed to herself.

* * *

"You're WHAT?"

"Amy please..."

"Say it again, short stack. Come on"

"Ugh. I am in love with Chloe, Amy" Beca said to the phone, rolling her eyes. She immediately had to pull the phone away from her ear because Amy screamed too loudly.

"YAAAAAASSSS FINALLY! FINALLYYYY! THAT BITCH FLO OWES ME $50"

"What? Finally? What do you mean?" Beca asked blushing.

"Beca, all the Bellas noticed the sexual tension between you two" Amy said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And is it true you met in a shower?"

"Yes bu-"

"YAAAAASS STACIE OWES ME ANOTHER $50"

"Hey listen, Amy" Beca said, rolling her eyes again. "Please don't yell, I want to keep my ear. What do I do?"

"Hmm well I pretty much think you already screwed up" Amy answered honestly.

"I did, but we are friends again now. I am helping her out and... ugh I just don't wanna leave her when she is better" Beca confessed running her hand through her hair.

"Relax, first step was bumping Jesse. That's done" Amy made a sound with her mouth as if she was scratching words on a list. "Second step, getting Chloe to talk to you again" Same noise. Beca waited patiently resting her forehead on her palm on the table. "Third step, becoming friends with her. Fourth step, getting her to love you. Easy" Amy concluded.

"Seriously? It is not easy, Amy. That's the fucking problem!" Beca said frustrated.

"She loved you once, right?"

"Well yes bu-"

"She can love you again. Just be yourself, Mitchell. You're the big BM! You can do anything!" Amy exclaimed, and Beca chuckled at the memories from Barden.

"Thanks Amy" The brunette said.

"Nah you helped me earn $100 today! Just make her feel special around you and you'll have Ginger crazy for ya. We can sing at the wedding!" Amy said reassuringly. "Just one more thing... you considered jumping in the pool with her at that party...?"

"Oh yes I did" Beca answered chuckling at the memory of drunk Chloe jumping in the pool and inviting everybody to join.

"YAAAAAASSS-" Amy started. Beca hang up the phone shaking her head at her friend's craziness and smiling widely.


	9. Michigan cookies

Beca was driving slower as they were approaching their destination. The street was crowded because it was LA and because it was Friday. If Beca was completely honest with herself, she didn't really like the crowds either. She'd rather frequent less crowded places and sit in the corner of the rooms just having a cocktail with a friend or two just watching the other people. But Beca knew she had to be different for Chloe, at least a bit different, she had to make an effort.

"Will you tell me where exactly we're going?" Chloe asked. It was good to see the change in her compared with the other day when they were going to the park. She was still nervous, of course, and it would increase in a minute or two when they enter the bar. But at least she wasn't clutching Beca's hand this time, and her eyes were glowing with some excitement and curiosity.

"We're here!" Beca said stopping the car in a small sized parking lot by the crowded street. Chloe looked out of the window and saw a building painted in red and black and illuminated by many lights. There was a big sign on top that read MICHIGAN. They got out of the car.

"Looks good" Chloe said, her eyes still examining the place.

"Right? I heard it's a good bar. The owner is my boss' cousin. Let's get inside?" Beca reached out to hold Chloe's hand. The gesture made the redhead blush. It wasn't because of the touch or surprise, because they actually held hands a lot lately. It was because this time Beca spoke in extreme kindness. Chloe smiled and they walked in.

Both friends looked around in awe once they stepped inside the bar. The decoration was exquisite. Beca counted around 20 people inside and they all seemed to be having fun and drinking without complaints of any kind. That was enough for her to approve so she guided Chloe straight to the bar itself. They sat on wooden benches there and Beca sighed turning her attention to Chloe once again.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm good" The redhead answered with a little smile. Their hands were still together but they didn't bother to notice. "Why is this place called Michigan in LA anyw-?"

"That, pretty lady, is because I come from Michigan" A young woman interrupted from the other side of the bar. Chloe let out a tiny "Oh" and the woman continued talking while mixing cocktails with expert ability. "I came here and then I thought I wanted to have a bar and then I thought I would call it Michigan because hell yeah, we make the best effin fudge ever! You ain't gonna find that in LA" And she ended with a wink before walking towards a couple and handing them their drinks.

Chloe and Beca looked at each other with eyes wide open and nodded in approval. The woman came back and reached out to shake their hands. Aiming to shake it is when Chloe and Beca notice their hands have been together all the time and they look at each other a bit surprised.

"Oh don't worry about that, we're gay friendly here" The woman assured with another wink and this made the two friends blush. "I'm Sasha, the owner of the place. Nice to meet you"

"Hi, I'm Beca. Um I work at Revi Music..." Beca said while shaking Sasha's hand.

"Ooh! You work with my cousin! Did he recommend the bar to you? He's such a pineapple!" Sasha said, very happy. After shaking Chloe's hand she added "So what do you wanna drink, girls? It's on the house!"

Beca ordered a mix called 'The silent lake' which was blue, bubbly and tasted mostly like grapefruit. Chloe ordered one called 'Sunset' which was red and orange and tasted like strawberry. They were delicious. After a few minutes Chloe showed signs of being nervous as more and more people got in the place and walked to the bar to order drinks or sit and talk. Her beautiful blue eyes were gazing at a lonely table in the corner.

"Hey" Beca said, bringing her back to reality. "It's ok, Chlo. We are staying here and you will see nothing bad happens. I am with you, ok?" She said reassuringly and squeezed Chloe's hand with a smile.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" A man who was standing next to Beca buying a drink started talking to them. Soon his friend stood next to Chloe. "Two beautiful women holding hands in a bar, huh?" He reached out to touch Beca's hair but she slapped his hand away.

"Wooo relax lady, we don't want to harm you" The other man said. "We just want to talk. You two are so pretty, you know. And seems you left your boyfriends at home s-"

"We're gay" Beca interrupted. She was feeling Chloe's hand wrapping tighter around hers. A quick glance at the redhead told her she was making a big effort to stay calm. This wasn't good.

"No way!" Said the first man. "You are way too perfect to be gay!" He looked for his friend's approval.

"Absolutely, you just made that up because we are too good looking and you think you have no chance with us"

"You're right Paul, as always" Replied his friend smirking.

"Get a room" Beca snapped. Then she stood up and guided Chloe by the hand to the toilet.

Once there Beca made sure Chloe was breathing alright. She looked a bit pale but with a few exercises to relax her heart rate went back to normal. They had their drinks too fast because of those guys so they were starting to make the first effects. Chloe started giggling.

"What?" Beca asked, smiling at the adorable ginger and barely controlling her urge to step closer.

"You told them we are gay" Chloe said, still giggling and covering her face with her hand.

"Yeah I did. They looked like they were never leaving us alone if-"

"But you said it as if we were a couple" Chloe stopped giggling and just smiled sweetly. Beca paralized for a second and swallowed.

"I um... well I didn't think about that..." She stuttered running her hand through her hair.

"It was brilliant! Let's keep playing it out" Chloe exclaimed. She seemed truly happy and Beca managed to show an awkward smirk before being dragged by her to the bar again.

Hours and drinks passed by. The girls lost sight of the guys a long time ago, they didn't matter anymore. Chloe and Beca were dancing, surrounded by people, and the redhead didn't seem to care about that either. Her eyes were fixed in Beca, that was all that mattered. Seems Chloe's drink had some more alcohol than Beca's, or the redhead was a bit softer. Anyway Beca was blurrier than Chloe was, so the brunette decided to call it a night. She suddenly remembered her car was outside but now she couldn't drive so Sasha would keep the car safe in the parking lot until the next morning.

The taxi left Chloe and Beca at the apartment. Beca's apartment. Chloe had never seen it before and it was weird for her to be somewhere else. Luckily alcohol seemed to be helping, as she walked to the kitchen and said "Let's bake cookies!"

Beca sent a quick text to Aubrey letting her know they were safe at her place, and then she walked in the kitchen too.

"Cookies? Right now?" She said, confused and amused.

"Totes! Aubrey told me how to do it. Do you know how to bake cookies?" Chloe asked leaning against the counter.

"Well I only follow the instructions from the cookie mix box" Beca answered shrugging. Chloe laughed loudly and somehow she saw the apples.

"Apples! Do you like apple pie?" The redhead asked suddenly.

"Yes I like it. It's actually the first thing I learnt in German, only because I was hungry in class... apfelkuchen" Beca said. Her expression was serious but when she saw Chloe's face she burst out laughing. Chloe's eyes were showing concentration as her lips were trying to move and imitate the German word Beca just said. The laugh brought the redhead back to reality again and she smiled happily.

"Alright! Screw cookies, let's make apple pie! That's my specialty, you're gonna LOVE me after it" Chloe said clapping her hands and walking towards the apples.

If she only knew how much Beca already loves her.


	10. Guest

"Hmmm This is so good!" Beca said with her mouth full of apple pie after a bite, when she saw her friend opening her eyes.

Chloe chuckled from the bed where she had been sleeping.

"Good morning, you! Slept ok?" Beca asked smiling brightly causing Chloe to smile back.

The redhead turned on her back and looked at the ceiling. All the memories from the previous night came back, some of them blurry. She could feel Beca's eyes on her and after a few seconds she sat up.

"How many slices of my apple pie did you eat already?" Chloe asked raising an eyebrow.

Beca quickly put the last piece of pie in her mouth and showed three fingers to Chloe accompanied with an innocent face. They laughed and Beca almost choked, which made them laugh even more.

"Ugh my head"

"Yeah Chlo, you drank a bit too much"

"Hey but... where did you sleep?" Chloe was looking around for any sign of Beca sharing the bed with her the previous night.

"On the couch" the brunette winked, and offered a slice of apple pie to Chloe.

The redhead took a bite of the pie and tapped on the bed next to her so Beca would sit there. They shared a moment of silence taking in the feeling of their legs touching and then Chloe took the courage to look at Beca. She found those dark blue eyes looking right at hers, they were closer than she had thought. Chloe's heartbeat accelerated. Her feelings were woken up once again and they were craving for contact. Her eyes left Beca's only to find her lips. And they were getting closer. Chloe looked back at Beca's eyes but they were already closed as she was leaning forward. Their noses touch and time seems to stop. The redhead couldn't handle the hurricane of emotions and jumped off the bed mumbling she needs a pill for the head.

Half day passed and Chloe was still in Beca's apartment, acting like nothing happened but she couldn't stay quiet. First she walked around paying attention to every detail, every decoration (even though there weren't many) Then curiosity won once again and she opened the cupboard and the fridge checking inside. Beca just sat on the couch pretending to watch tv but the truth is she wasn't really paying much attention to it. The brunette was feeling really happy and excited to have Chloe again not only in her life but also in her house. Beca didn't want this to end and she was willing to keep an eye on Chloe all the time just in case the redhead would feel homesick or something. In that moment Beca was just about to go and look for Chloe because it had been a while without seeing her in the living room, but before she could move the redhead walked in with the phone in her hand and a worried face.

"It was Aubrey..." Chloe said. "She left to take care of some business at the retreat... Who's going to come with me tomorrow? I start work again..." She was visibly insecure and upset in front of this unexpected situation.

"I can go with you" Beca said, getting up and walking towards Chloe. She decided to stop at a safe distance. "You can stay here tonight... if you want to of course... and I can drive you to work tomorrow?" Beca's smile was full of kindness and Chloe nodded with a shy smile feeling surprisingly calm. Then the brunette slapped her own forehead remembering her car was still at the bar.

* * *

Sasha wouldn't stop talking. She was telling Beca how she personaly made sure to keep her car safe last night and repeat how awesome it had been to meet her and Chloe. Sasha was weird, and Beca liked weird so she let her talk. Her mind traveled somewhere else more than once though, and came back to catch up on the conversation often. Eventually she connected with the conversation but her new friend had already stopped talking, so the girls said their goodbyes and drove to Chloe's apartment.

The redhead was visibly calmer there and she sang to herself while packing some of her clothes and things. Beca made sure she would laugh once every few minutes making weird faces or lipsyncing to the toothbrush. Beca couldn't believe how much she changed when she was around Chloe. The badass shield was gone and her vulnerable part came out naturally, without any limits. Because there was no need for that with Chloe. These thoughts filled the brunette with joy and she was certain, more than ever, that this was the place where she belonged. Next to Chloe. Forever.

"What would you like to eat?" Beca asked while driving away from the apartment.

Chloe raised an eyebrow, "Do you cook?"

"As I said yesterday... or maybe you don't remember..." This earned Beca a punch on her arm. "Ouch you'll cause an accident, Beale! Dangerous woman" She made Chloe chuckle again. Oh how much she loved doing that. "As I said yesterday, I follow the instructions on the packages of food. AND I can make sauce" Beca showed off her proud look and smirk.

"Ok then, let's go with pasta. Easy one so you don't burn the house. Bealieve me, that's not funny when the smoke starts creeping in..."

"What? You almost burnt the house once?" Beca was surprised and amused.

"Oh long story..." Chloe said letting it drift and looking out the window. Beca understood the meaning of that, the conversation was finished, and they enjoyed a comfortable silence the rest of the way.

2 hours later they were sitting at the little table in Beca's house eating 'The Beca's delicatessen' as the brunette had playfully called the pasta she just made. She waited impatiently until Chloe gave her opinion on it. Luckily the redhead loved it, not only because she said so with a bright smile, but also because she left an empty plate with no traces of sauce left. The best part was the sauce, Beca knew. That was her secret, grandma's sauce recipe.

During dinner both friends talked comfortably about the day, about how Aubrey took the first chance to leave on 'holidays' and also about the next day. Chloe explained Beca about her job, what were her duties and how she used to do it. She confessed to be scared about the kids not giving her a nice welcome after this long time, and not being able to run the rehearsals correctly. Beca made sure every single worry expressed by Chloe was cleared out of her thoughts. To every worry she would reply with a positive certainty making the redhead feel so much better.

When they finished dinner Beca insisted on doing the dishes herself while Chloe put on her pjs. Sitting on the bed she was thinking, and talked to Beca as soon as she walked by the room.

"Beca?"

"Yes?" Beca stopped her tracks and leaned on the door frame casually.

"Do you remember when we had those sleepovers at Barden?" Chloe showed a shy smile. Beca smiled back.

"Yeah they were so much fun"

"Uhuh and remember we used to fall asleep sharing the bed?" Chloe was visibly insecure and broke eye contact with Beca.

The brunette had her eyes wide open, it was the first time Chloe talked about those days with her. Those days when she was...

"I was completely in love with you then" Chloe said simply, still looking at the floor. Beca was still trying to find words somewhere in her head. She lost the ability of thinking even, when Chloe's blue eyes found hers again. "You can sleep here tonight if you want... I mean you don't need to sleep on the couch... I mean we can watch a movie and fall asleep without realizing... I mean-"

"Sure." Beca managed to find herself again "Sure Chlo, I'll put my pjs on and be right back"

Both women shared a relieved and understanding smile. Each of them thought they understood, but the truth is they didn't. They were both deeply in love with the other but too scared to break what they had, once again. And each of them thought the other didn't feel the same way.


	11. That peaceful feeling

Beca couldn't sleep. She was feeling uncomfortable curled up at the edge of the bed, concentrating on that position. Her ear hurt from keeping it on the pillow for too long but she refused to turn her head to Chloe's direction. No eye contact, no contact at all. Beca didn't want to mess up things.

The evening had been relaxed and enjoyable. Chloe made herself comfortable under the sheets and Beca carefully got in bed at a safe distance. They chose a comedy though, so the separation didn't last long because the redhead would turn on her side and laugh against Beca's shoulder. Of course the brunette loved that feeling and she laughed too, but always letting Chloe do the moves. There was this bit of tension in the movie where the woman looked at the man and he looked back at her intently... The air in Beca's room became thick, it was hard to breath for both of them and the only audible things were the movie soundtrack and Chloe and Beca's heartbeats. Both women kept their eyes fixed on the screen, not moving an inch. Their minds were daydreaming though, they wanted to be like those characters from the movie. Chloe and Beca fought so hard to avoid searching for the blue eyes by their side. And they succeeded. When the movie ended it was already late so after a few comments about the funniest parts (avoiding the romantic ones) both friends decided it was time to sleep. That's when Beca curled up near the edge of the bed looking at the night table and that's how she has been trying to sleep for the last two hours. Her mind was full of Chloe.

Chloe on the other side of the bed, couldn't sleep either. She was trying her best because she really wanted to have all the energy for work the next day. In part that was what kept her from sleeping. She felt terrified and excited at the same time about going back to work. Mostly excited though. She felt the change for the past weeks, something was different in her. Chloe was feeling stronger, self confident and happier. She went out of the apartment during the day and during the night. She laughed and danced. Definitely the old Chloe was coming back and there was nothing depression could do about it anymore. Everything thanks to Beca.

 _Beca..._ Chloe was on her side with eyes wide open looking at Beca's back. Just like you do with a small kid, Beca left the bathroom lights on so Chloe wouldn't feel scared in case she woke in the middle of the night and there was pure darkness around her in a strange place. It wasn't necessary at all, Chloe was feeling really well and didn't even care if she wasn't in her apartment. Wherever Beca was felt like home. Nevertheless the light dimly illuminated the bedroom and it was great help for Chloe to see Beca next to her on the bed. The redhead's eyes lingered on every inch of Beca's silhouette just like they used to do years ago. Nothing had changed. The feeling was still there even though Chloe had tried so hard to take it off her heart. The brunette's unsteady breath showed she wasn't feeling well. Chloe reached out to place her hand on Beca's waist but stopped half way. Instead she brought her arm to her chest and closed her eyes to focus on sleeping once again. A few seconds later Beca let out a groan, giving up and turning around to face Chloe. She found Chloe's eyes glowing back at her.

"Hi" Chloe said simply.

"Can't sleep?" Beca asked with her sleepy voice.

"Nope. You can't sleep?"

"Nope"

And both friends just spent the next countless minutes staring at each other. Slowly their eyelids started to close and they drifted off to a peaceful dream until the morning.

First thing Beca felt was warmth against her hand. As her mind was waking up from the dreams she also felt something tickling her nose. Scrunching her face she lazily opened her eyes and saw red hair. Took a second to understand what was happening. Somehow during the night her efforts to keep distance between Chloe and her didn't succeed and they ended up spooning. Who in a hundred years would have thought Beca Mitchell would end up being someone's big spoon in bed? But yet there she was, feeling so protective and comfortably. Apparently Chloe was comfortable too. Beca couldn't stop herself and she kissed Chloe's shoulder softly. As the alarm went off the brunette reluctantly moved her hand from Chloe's tummy and got up to make breakfast.

One hour and a half later, Chloe was stepping in the building where she works. She was rehearsing in her head how she would talk to her students and co-workers, what she would say. But that proved to be unnecessary when five adults and 20 kids were standing in the entrance hall smiling widely at her. Chloe's first reaction was surprise, and she stopped her tracks bringing her hands to the open mouth. Then she read the signs they were holding and her expression transformed into a smile.

" _We missed you miss Chloe"_

" _Welcome back"_

" _This isn't the same without you"_

When Chloe showed her beautiful smile to them and brought her hands to her chest, overwhelmed by happiness and relief, the kids exchanged looks and decided to run towards her. The music teacher was surrounded by 20 hugs that made a big one and she couldn't keep her happy tears inside anymore. That hug was followed by five more, from her colleagues. They all whispered welcoming words in her ears and the only thing she could say was "Thank you" over and over again. Last but not least, her boss approached with a smile too, and hugged her tightly. He apologized for the hurry but said they needed Chloe there to get things ready for the big performance at the end of the year. Chloe nodded in agreement and promised she would work hard for that.

Before getting to the actual job with the kids, Chloe had a meeting with her co-workers so they could let her know what they have been doing during all this time. Even though Chloe had been working from her apartment e-mailing arrangements for the songs, she had to be informed about how those arrangements were being introduces in the performances. Following the boss' instructions the meetings had been planned to be individual so Chloe had been talking to each of her colleagues for half an hour each. The last one was the closest to her, Anna.

"Wait Chlo, before we start talking about work... Wow I almost don't recognize you! What happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked Anna, confused.

"Oh don't get me wrong, I love it! I mean, you were so down and nervous before... now you're just... stronger!" Anna said kindly squeezing Chloe's arm.

Chloe smiled and simply said, "Yeah I got someone special back in my life" her eyes looked down at her hands on the table.

"Hey" Anna called, again squeezing Chloe's arm kindly. "That is amazing. Don't let them go again. Whoever it is, it seems they are a light in your life"


	12. Unexpected turns

Beca walked sleepily to answer the door. Checking the time she groaned and rubbed her eyes wondering who would be visiting this early. Early for a Saturday anyway. She was internally praying for it to be anyone but her dad. Beca could handle anyone but him while suffering from a little hangover. The previous night she and Chloe had been to the Michigan bar again, they liked the place and the owner told very good stories about her hometown. Beca and Chloe were sure 90% of the stories were fake anyway, and she only told them to make people laugh. They were fine with that as it worked pretty well to lighten their moods. Despite being offered free drinks many times Chloe and Beca didn't drink much, but adding those drinks to a busy day of work and little food in their stomach, it caused some bad effects in the morning.

As she opened the door carefully, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her in the air.

"Amy!?" Beca exclaimed in surprise recognizing her friend.

Fat Amy smiled widely and let Beca stand up again, breaking the hug to shake the brunette's shoulders in excitement.

"Short stack! I'm so happy to see you!"

Beca brought a hand to her spinning head and scrunched her face. Amy closed the door behind her and turned around to face Beca again.

"So you had a party last night?" She asked exaggerating a wink.

"Shh don't talk too loud" Beca begged moving her palms down. Then she guided her friend to the kitchen. "So what are you doing here? It's nice to see you too." That's when Beca saw Amy was carrying a big backpack. "Wait are you... staying?"

"What's going on, Beca? I'm your best friend, I am supposed to stay here whenever I want... right?" Amy said, offended.

"Shh Amy please I told you to lower the volume" Beca whispered with a quick glance to the side. "Of course you can stay... usually... it's just you should try calling first..." She was visibly nervous and the blonde noticed.

"Oh hang on there, you dirty little thang. Who is sleeping over?" Amy said slowly, studying every tiny movement Beca made. And she saw Beca blushed and gave another quick glance to the side, almost waiting for someone to walk in the room. "Oh my God there IS someone sleeping over!" Amy surprisingly whispered and didn't shout out loud. She stretched her neck up to check the living room. When seeing the couch was empty Amy just covered her mouth with both hands and jumped up and down around Beca.

Beca couldn't remember being that embarrassed in her whole life, she could feel the extremely red blush all over her face and neck. She managed to sit down and gave Amy the coldest glare she could give in that estate. It worked because Amy sat too.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted your morning s-"

"No! No we weren't having morning sex. Or any sex!" Beca cut Amy off.

The blonde seemed disappointed, "What? Why would you bring them to your house if it's gonna be boring..." Another glare from Beca made Amy reconsider her approach to the subject. "You know I'm your best friend. I can keep secrets..."

Beca sighed. Amy would find out anyway, "It's Chloe" She said pretending to be concentrated on her nails. The silence that followed made her look back at Amy though, who was smirking naughtily.

"You are already living together?"

"What, 'already'? No! She's just staying for a couple of weeks until Aubrey comes back"

"Oh is she with Aubrey, then?" Amy asked confused.

"No! No they are just roommates" Beca said, she forgot to whisper.

"But does she sleep in the same bed with Aubrey to?" Amy asked calmly. Checkmate.

Beca was speechless. She didn't really have the answer to that. Did she have any answers at all? Yes she was in love with Chloe. That's the only thing she knew for sure. But was Chloe feeling the same? Would she be able to forgive her completely someday and give them a second chance? Was she really good for Chloe? Why were they sleeping so comfortably in the same bed, waking up cuddling?

Beca opened her mouth to say something, anything. But someone else spoke first.

"Amy!?" It was Chloe, standing by the kitchen. Her hair messy from sleeping and her favorite pjs on.

She was smiling widely, truly happy to see her friend from college again, her Bella Sister. Amy smiled too and ran to hug the redhead just like she had previously hugged Beca.

Chloe had been awake for some time already, she heard the door close and Amy's voice a few minutes ago and then overheard the conversation Beca and Amy had. Chloe couldn't help laughing with it. Fat Amy always had the ability of manipulating Beca's attention guiding it towards her own confusion. This was good for the brunette because she usually placed walls around everything she was really feeling.

"How are you, Ginger? Not crazy anymore?" Amy asked causing Chloe to chuckle. Beca was too busy concentrating on getting that blush off her face.

"I am feeling way better, thank you. It's nice to see you here! Are you staying with us?" Chloe asked. Both Amy and her turned to look at Beca with inquiring eyes.

"Sure you can..." Beca said with a little smile. "But sorry what's the reason you came to LA?"

"Yeah well you see, you told me you were in l-"

Amy realized what she was about to say, widened her eyes and corrected herself quickly.

"LA. You told me you were in LA and also told me all those things that happened ['with Chloe' she moved her lips with no sound] you said those things were true and I won the bets but you know, they want proof so I came here to get proof so they can pay me. You know, a girl needs her money for booze and life." She said all that too quickly causing an awkward silence.

"Okay, you and me can talk later about that" Beca stated standing up.

Amy knew she had probably made a mistake talking about Beca's confessions in front of Chloe. She whispered 'sorry' to Beca's ear while grabbing her bag. After that Amy just excussed herself to go to the bathroom and left the kitchen. Beca wanted to leave too, her mind was messed up and she was already too tired of thinking at 10am.

"Wait" Chloe stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Are you ok, Beca? I'm sorry if I allowed Amy to stay before you did, this is your place and-"

Chloe stopped talking when Beca's hand cupped her cheek. Time seemed to stop too, they were both holding their breaths and the only thing moving was Beca's thumb caressing Chloe's cheek slowly. This was it, Beca was tired of thinking. Looking directly into Chloe's eyes, she let them drag her in and take control of her. Beca's left hand found the redhead's other cheek as she leaned in finally closing the gap. Finally letting her heart decide and kissing Chloe eagerly.


	13. After the kiss

The kiss didn't last more than 3 seconds, but it was enough for Beca's heart to send a big bright signal to her brain saying 'YES THIS IS WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY'. Chloe pulled away first, gently. Her breathing was accelerated and her eyes showed a bit of confusion.

"Beca what... what are you doing?" Chloe managed to whisper. Her hand was still holding Beca's arm and they were standing very close.

"I just..." Beca didn't know what to say, Chloe looked upset or confused or something Beca couldn't really put a name on. Yet they were standing so close and Beca was dying to kiss her again. She wouldn't dare trying right now though.

"Beca listen I-" Chloe interrupted herself. She shook her head and turned to walk away. Beca reached out for her wrist and could stop her.

"Chlo, please. Don't run away again?" Beca asked gently.

Chloe faced the brunette and used her softest tone to say, "Don't worry, I just need some air" adding a shy smile to it.

Beca smiled softly and let the redhead go.

* * *

Chloe was walking farther and farther away from Beca's apartment without realizing. She had instinctively called her best friend. Aubrey has always been there for her and she was the only one who could help clearing her head. The blonde had heard what Chloe told about feeling so comfortable in Beca's bed and everything the brunette had been doing to help Chloe. She was honestly impressed about the results. Now the scared Chloe was walking down the streets alone with no trace of her previous panic attacks and angst. Aubrey had the feeling that her best friend had an important reason to call this time too, and she smirked while hearing the nervous tone on Chloe's voice.

Then Chloe sat somewhere in a sunny park and told Aubrey about the kiss that had happened just a few minutes ago. The blonde squealed in excitement.

"Finally! That slow Hobbit made a move in less than a year..." Aubrey said.

Chloe remained silent and her best friend felt slightly guilty.

"What's wrong, Chlo? Isn't this what you have been waiting for ages?" Aubrey tried.

Still silence from Chloe's side. Aubrey sighed. They were best friends for a reason.

"Ok, I can understand if you think she feels pity or guilt or something like that. But Chlo, I could see her toner for you. I think she loves you"

Chloe sighed loudly and that told Aubrey she had put her finger on the redhead's worries. Chloe still had doubts and wouldn't like to rush things because she knows just how it hurts when one person is all aboard the ship and the other is still on the shore. And the ship starts moving. And the other person just stands there looking with wide eyes. And the first person, who is on the ship can't jump and swim back because there are sharks. Yes Chloe knows exactly how that feels and she would never ever want to feel that again.

On the other hand though, that kiss woke her butterflies once again and sent one of them straight to her brain with a message: 'YES THIS IS WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY'. Chloe knew this and a part of her wanted to just jump to it and let go. But that was her impulsive, innocent part. The part that would be broken to pieces. Being in love with Beca was no news for her, she was used to being in love with the brunette. Her love never disappeared, even though she tried hard. It just doesn't work like that. It seemed to be working when she just grabbed Beca and moved her from the 'lover' shelf to the 'friend' shelf in her heart. But that damn thing moved back to its original place every night, when Chloe fell asleep in Beca's arms.

What's new is Beca actually feeling the same for her. Chloe was in denial but there was some proof in her memories from the past weeks. Sighing loudly again the redhead said thank you and goodbye to her best friend, then saved the phone inside her pocket. It was hard to make a decision on what to do next.

* * *

"But... what if she slaps me?" Beca said, worried.

"Just kiss her again, Beca!" Aubrey replied to the screen of her laptop, frustrated. "You need to show her you really are in love and you weren't just feeling guilty or whatever."

Beca ran her hand through her hair nervously and moved on her chair. Her eyes left the screen for a moment.

"Is that necessary!?" She asked Amy, who was holding a camera.

"You never know when evidence for a bet is going to show up!" Amy defended herself.

Beca huffed and returned her attention to Aubrey, who looked confused after hearing Amy's words.

"Fine I will just plan something big, something romantic..." Beca started, and then stopped herself and blushed seeing Aubrey smirk.

"Oh! That might work" The blonde said. "Don't worry, she was taking some fresh air near your place, she'll be back soon. Remember my threat is still running, Mitchell!" Aubrey said, and logged off Skype.

Beca smiled sheepishly and worked on her music for a while. Then she spent time with Amy, remembering old times. Everything was being saved in the camera of course. Later they watched some tv and it got dark... No sign of Chloe.


	14. She failed maps

Chloe woke up to a sore neck and groaned lightly trying to focus her vision. The place she saw wasn't familiar and panic started rising inside her when she tried to move her hands and felt they were tied behind her back. She was sitting on a wooden chair in the corner of a small room. It looked like a basement in Chloe's eyes, she saw old furniture and things that apparently hadn't been used in ages.

Chloe noticed the sun was shining through the tiny window on her right, so she must have spent the night in that place. Taking deep breaths she tried remembering. She had been speaking with Aubrey on the phone, about Beca. She was sitting under a tree in some park she found while walking without destination. When the conversation was over she stood up and hit her head very hard with a low branch of the tree. Now Chloe could feel the remaining pain on her head to certify the memory. Making a bigger effort she remembered everything got blurry and she almost fell on the grass. Someone held her arm... Yes she could remember that happened and then they started walking. She was dizzy and lost but the person said she could take her to the hospital. The woman kept asking things, to make sure Chloe was conscious but then... then she remembers nothing.

The door opened and smell of food slapped Chloe's nose. Looked like she was hungry. Swallowing hard she concentrated on the person walking down the stairs towards her. Chloe recognized the woman from the previous night, the one who was supposed to help her.

"You!" Chloe said furious. If her hands weren't tied up she would punch that woman without hesitation.

"Woo there, no violence" The woman said with a strong accent. "We didn't hurt you so if I was you I wouldn't do anything crazy." She continued with a smirk, walking around Chloe slowly, her eyes fixed on her. Then she showed Chloe's phone. "Is this your phone? Why don't you call your 'famous music producer' and ask her to bring us money?"

"When we saw you in the park we just wanted to steal your bag first" Now the strong accent came from a man who was standing in front of Chloe too. "Not a good neighborhood for a rich girl."

"I am not rich!" Chloe stated.

"Oh we know that now... but you told us about your friend before we put you to sleep. She must be... how do you say? Swimming in money" The woman said, and then both laughed.

Chloe felt furious and scared and guilty, all at the same time. She had finally decided to be brave and follow her heart, to go back and share with Beca all her doubts. And then she is so stupid and tells a stranger details of her life. To be honest Chloe doesn't even know if Beca has lots of money or not... But 'music producer' nowadays usually means money so there's no way these people would believe otherwise.

The woman showed the phone to Chloe and she told the woman how to find Beca's number. Once it was dialing, the phone was approached to Chloe's ear. The brunette answered after the first tone.

"Chloe! Jeez Chlo, where are you?" Her voice sounded desperate and worried.

The man in front of Chloe was showing her a piece of paper with instructions.

"Becs, hey. I'm alright, they didn't hurt me. I'm kidnapped... I think" Chloe said slowly.

"What!? Chloe what happened, are you ok? Where are you? I'll call-"

"No Beca, don't call the police. They think you have lots of money for some reason... They want 50k as a ransom" Chloe saw the couple smirking and remembered something. "Meet them tonight at 8 in Meredith Park... They want you to take the money in a picnic basket and go alone." Now it was the moment to risk it. "Oh and Becs, if anything happens to me I just want you to know that the apple pie you baked smells good. I'm sorry." And just when Chloe finished the sentence, the woman hung up and saved Chloe's phone in her poket again.

"I just felt guilty because I didn't have a chance to say it before..." Chloe explained casually. The man shrugged and they both walked out of the room again.

* * *

Beca was going crazy. When the phone call ended so suddenly she tried to call back again many times without success. She had thrown her phone on the couch and was now pacing around the living room talking to Amy.

"Amy, what the hell... She sounded like she's about to die and she talks about apple pie!? And why is this happening to her, why?"

"But she said she's not hurt? Maybe they just want money"

"Yes of course they want money and not even God will be able to help them if they touch Chloe!" Beca punched her palm so hard it made her let out a small 'Ouch' Then she groaned running her hands through her hair while sitting down on the couch. "Why does this happen to her? This is so unfair, she didn't do anything wrong, she is just suffering all the time... and dude, I didn't even bake the apple pie, she did" Beca started crying in her hands.

"Maybe she tried to say something else with that?" Amy suggested, concerned.

Beca didn't move and started thinking aloud.

"So... maybe she wanted me to over think about the apple pie... why would she want that?" The brunette was now facing Amy.

"Well what happened when she was baking the apple pie?"

Beca took a few minutes to remember the details, "Well we were about to bake cookies... and then she suggested apple pie because it was her specialty..." Beca smiled at the memories and so did Amy. Her camera was still on. "Oh and then I told her it was the first thing I learnt in German class! Do you think she tried to say that?"

"Yeah can be German people who got her maybe?" Amy got excited too and stood up from the couch.

"Makes sense if they didn't want to talk to me on the phone... but if that's true..." Beca was concentrating deeply. "If that's true then it means they are easy to find... but that doesn't make sense, there must be lots of Germans in LA" She lay back on the couch frustrated.

"Did the apple pie smell good? Amy asked after a few minutes of silence.

"What?" Beca was startled out of her thoughts.

"Well she could have said 'Bring apple pie' or 'I hate your apple pie' but instead she said it smells good"

Beca's face illuminated with a smile as she stood up and hugged Amy tightly.

"Amy you're a genius! She must have been trying to say something else. I'll make some calls and try to get the money just in case, you get ready. We are going to a German Restaurant for dinner"


	15. Rescue-ish

Just as Beca remembered, only half block away from Meredith park there was a small but quite famous German restaurant. Amy and her were excited and scared at the same time, but Beca trusted her instincts... and she also got police backup just in case. In a previous quick meeting with the chief policewoman in the region, Beca explained the situation and they both agreed that police shouldn't show up until Chloe was safe. They made a plan together and that's how time passed by and around 7 pm Beca and Fat Amy were stepping in the restaurant. It was an early dinner for them but the point wasn't the food. They had one hour to find and rescue Chloe. Both friends sat at a table for two next to the window and looked around.

"Amy! Please don't be so obvious" Beca whispered seeing her friend was exaggerating a yawn standing up and looking around deliberately.

Amy apologized, sat on her chair and grabbed the menu. Soon after that a waiter approached and they ordered. As the waiter walked away Beca instructed Amy to be alert and keep an eye on every waiter and waitress in the place. The blonde nodded with a serious expression she learned in the spies movies, and the brunette walked casually towards the back of the restaurant.

_Let's see Beca, if you understood what Chloe tried to tell you... I hope I understood! Otherwise she will be in danger because I won't be there to pay and also the police would hate me forever, every time I need the police they will remember I was the stupid woman who got a wrong clue from her kidnapped lover and... lover? That sounds amazing! Anyway Beca, trust your instincts, don't freak out... yet. If Chloe said it smelled she must be somewhere around here, inside the restaurant. There's no apartments on top of it so she should either be in the back or under-_

"Excuse me madam, what are you doing here?" Beca's thoughts were interrupted by a woman's voice with a strong accent. Beca turned around to find a tall woman whose eyes were full of suspicion.

"Oh hi!" Beca answered regaining her composure. "I was just looking for the toilet! Haha I can't believe how big this place is..." She kept her forced smile until the tension in the woman's face disappeared and a smile formed in her face too.

"You were heading towards the kitchen, only staff allowed there I'm afraid... Toilets are on the other side, there's a big sign, see?" The woman walked next to Beca with a hand on her back and pointed in the toilet's direction. Beca didn't know how to hide the embarrassment from her face, she was struggling with what to say next when she heard something.

It was a song, one that Beca knew so well because it was her singing. And it was Chloe's ringtone. The music came from the woman's pocket. She quickly put her hand in the pocket and walked away from Beca.

"Amy! Chloe must be here, I bet there's a basement here or something. That woman has her phone" Beca whispered as quietly as she could when she ran back to her table. Her cheeks were red and her breath agitated.

* * *

Meanwhile in the basement, Chloe managed to stand up in an awkward position that would be really funny to see in a different situation. The chair was still on her back and her hands tied to it. Chloe's mind was thinking loudly. _I can finally be with Beca and this shit happens. I won't let these people ruin my day. What if she has no money? They can hurt her... and I don't want her to pay for me anyway. I hope she got my hint on where to find me... I'll get out of here right now._

A smile appeared on her face when she found a broken mirror. Half walking and half jumping Chloe managed to get closer and used a sharp end to cut the lace and free her hands.

"Ha! Easy" She said to herself. Now how could she get out of the basement? Maybe she could just wait until someone came in looking for her and use the chair to give them a headache...

* * *

Beca was checking the menu once again. _There must be something._

"Did you request a waiter, miss?"

"Yes uhm Hi. I would like one of these specialty beers. It says here I have to ask a waiter about them."

"No problem, do you wish something else?"

"No but... can you assure me they are good quality? I mean, you should keep the beer somewhere dark and protected against sunlight..." Beca was making this up, she had no idea.

"Oh yes, don't worry about that. They are in the basement, I'll bring it to you right away." With that the waiter walked away and Beca smirked proudly. She counted 4 seconds aloud and then Amy and her stood up and followed the waiter. Both friends had only a fraction of a second to hide in a corner when the waiter was stopped by the same woman as before.

"Where are you going?" She asked the confused guy.

"Well I'm going to the basement because a customer asked for a beer and-"

The woman cut him off, "Ok, let me get it." She said and pushed the guy away kinda roughly.

He walked passed Beca and Amy without seeing them and as the woman headed to the basement they followed her.

"Madam, how can I help you?" A warm voice surprised Amy, who was walking behind Beca. She closed her eyes for an instant and cursed to herself. Then faced the waiter.

"Hello, I was going to the kitchen to... umm... to talk to the cheff" Amy said, scratching the back of her neck.

Beca could hear her friend being delayed behind and she decided to go on alone. This could be the only chance to rescue Chloe.

The German woman got to a small door leading to a staircase to the basement. Beca's head was spinning because she didn't really have a plan, how could she proceed now? Beca was still thinking next to the door and she heard a loud noise and a scream from the basement. Without thinking twice she decided to run down the stairs. _If anything happens to Chloe..._

Suddenly she was tackled to the floor. It happened in an instant, her back hit the floor painfully and she could only see the ceiling and red hair.

"Chloe!?" Beca exclaimed in surprise, hugging Chloe's waist. A quick blush showed on her face when she realized Chloe was lying on top of her. She must have been running up the stairs and just bumped into Beca. Their eyes met.

"Beca!? Oh my God you found me!" Chloe's relief was heard in her shaky voice. They helped each other stand up and were squeezed in Amy's arms.

"Are you hurt, Chlo?" Beca asked worried.

Chloe didn't answer, instead she just smiled brightly, cupped Beca's cheek and kissed her passionately.

Police officers ran passed them to get the woman in the basement, others talked to Amy letting her know they got the man in the park waiting for the payment. All the waiters and customers were standing around them, some applauding, some filling the others in with what the heck had happened... Chloe and Beca weren't there anymore, they were in a different world. A world of their own. That simple kiss meant so much to them. It meant relief, hope, strength and love.


	16. You

Chloe's eyes were still closed. Slowly waking up she concentrated on the feeling. There was a warm hand on her abdomen, lightly moving up and down with her own breathing. There was a gentle puff of air against her bare shoulder every couple of seconds. There was also a familiar body pressed against her back. Together they fit in perfect shape.

Chloe opened her eyes and recognized the room. She turned around carefully and met Beca's eyes. The brunette mirrored her wide smile and let out a relaxed sigh.

"Good morning" Chloe whispered.

"Good morning" Beca answered, caressing the redhead's cheek softly.

Chloe tilted her head to kiss Beca's palm and then snuggled her nose in the crook of her neck. Beca giggled lightly wrapping her arm tighter around Chloe's shoulders. And there they spent the next minutes. Well the minutes didn't pass for them, time was not running.

"You sure you're ok?" Beca whispered, a hint of concern in her voice.

"Uhuh" Chloe answered.

Beca's body stiffened a little and Chloe noticed the tension. The redhead changed position to look at Beca.

"I'm ok, Becs. I wasn't hurt and I discovered some strength I forgot I had inside me" Chloe assured. "And besides my prince was there to rescue me" She added, making Beca laugh, scowl and say "Hey!"

"You pretty much rescued yourself" Beca said with a smile once the laughter was gone. "You strong and brave woman" The brunette added poking Chloe's nose gently.

The redhead closed the gap between them with a kiss full of love. Beca's lips parted allowing Chloe in and making the kiss deeper. Their bodies were pressed together, they wanted to feel every inch of each other's skin. Chloe cupped Beca's cheek and rolled over on top of her with her legs around Beca's thigh. The kisses and caresses became more and more passionate, the love they felt was flooding their hearts and spreading all over their bodies.

The previous night both women had undressed each other to get in bed. It had been such a romantic scene and Chloe had felt flattered seeing how Beca held herself back, waiting until Chloe was ready for the next step. Now in the next morning Chloe didn't even know if she felt ready, all she knew is she felt an infinite amount of love that she needed to show.

Beca's hands found a sensitive spot on Chloe's back that made her moan. Chloe's lips found a sensitive spot on Beca's neck that made her moan. Discovering each other and themselves, their hips started rocking in sync, in a morning they would never forget.

An hour later, Beca and Chloe walked in the living room. Amy was sitting on the couch using her laptop.

"Oh hey! I had to put some music on earlier... this place isn't too big, you know?" Amy greeted them. Chloe blushed immediately and walked towards the kitchen. Beca blushed too, but glared at Amy before saying "Good morning to you too" and following Chloe.

The redhead was standing in the middle of the kitchen when Beca got there.

"Surprise!" The brunette whispered in Chloe's ear hugging her from behind.

The kitchen counter was covered with 3 bouquets of lilies, each with a little red box of chocolates next to it. On the little table there was a tray that had heart shaped cookies. They had been cut in half and then stick back together with a band aid. One of those colorful band aids for kids.

"Wow" Was everything Chloe could say. She turned around to look at Beca, her eyes full of tears. "When...?"

"Last night, around 3 am." Beca answered the implied question. Chloe smiled.

"Your didn't have to do this"

"Yes I had to" Beca said before giving Chloe a sweet kiss.

Chloe hugged Beca tightly and closed her eyes. The brunette startled her when she spoke up.

"Seriously, Amy!? Are you still doing that for the bets?" Beca was looking at Amy who was standing in front of her with the camera.

"Those bets are nothing, I'll take this to Hollywood" Amy replied. Chloe and Beca laughed, still hugging each other.

A few minutes later, the three women were enjoying the cookies. Chloe was so proud of Beca's efforts and her heart was beating stronger than ever. She sighed in content.

"Amy grab the camera" Beca said while standing up from the couch to stand in front of it.

The brunette cleared her throat. She looked nervous. Chloe held her breath.

"Chloe, I want to say... I want to thank you for giving me another chance after what I did. I am... I am..." Beca lost words and decided to take a different route. "In these months I had the chance to see you get better. I am so proud of you. What I try to say is... I love your eyes even when you cry, I love how your hair looks under the sun and also under the lights in a bar at night. I love how you can't choose between chocolates and flowers" Beca smiled at Chloe's giggles and sighed. "I love you. I am so deeply in love with you" She finished.

Chloe was already standing in front of Beca. Her hands were slightly shaking because of emotion, her eyes filled with tears. She seemed to be speechless. Taking Beca's hand she placed it on her chest, over her heart. "I love you too" She said simply.

After a tender kiss and a hug, Beca looked at Amy, "Aaaand cut!"

"Luckily you got that too, Aubrey would be really jealous if she missed Beca's words" Chloe said.

"Speaking of the devil..." Beca muttered standing up to answer the door. To her surprise not only Aubrey was there, but the rest of the Bellas too. _Phew I spoke up just in time._ She thought.

All the girls decided to visit because they had heard what happened to Chloe. Joy filled the small apartment with laughter, some tears and high pitched voices telling all kinds of stories. From all those stories, the one that everybody enjoyed most was how Beca Mitchell could help Chloe Beale fix her broken pieces.


End file.
